Friday, November 07, 2008

Football Helmets

If you watch football this weekend and pay particular attention to the backs of the football helmets, you’ll see the name Schutt. Schutt Sports makes helmets along with other athletic equipment in Litchfield, IL (population 6,815). The company dates to 1918 when Bill Schutt started making basketball goals in his hometown. From very modest beginnings, the company has grown to several hundred jobs in the town, with other plants in IL and PA.

I was in Montgomery County, IL (population 29,810) for their first ever Summit to discuss economic development last week. Litchfield is the largest town in the county.

Schutt is looking at consolidating their various operations in Litchfield, wanting to do a 100,000 sf expansion onto their main plant. Litchfield is looking at various options on how to assist Schutt in their expansion. One of the graphics that they asked me to send was the following, which shows the impact of a 100 manufacturing jobs like Schutt on a community: